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How to begin: picking a style, risk basics, what a backtest can and cannot prove.
Market Makers: Liquidity, Compensation, and the Bid-Ask Spread
A market maker is a securities firm that quotes both buy and sell prices for an asset and stands ready to trade at those prices, supplying liquidity to
Reading Academic Finance Papers as a Trader: A Framework for Evaluating Research Credibility
**Abstract.** Academic finance papers often contain profitable trading insights, but many suffer from latent biases that limit real-world applicability. A trader can evaluate research credibility by systematically reading
Expectancy: The One Formula That Connects Win Rate, Payoff and Costs
Expectancy, or expected value, is the average profit or loss per trade when win probability, average payoff, average loss, and costs are combined into a single metric. The
Market Makers: Liquidity Providers and the Bid-Ask Spread
A market maker is a trader or firm that stands ready to buy and sell a security or contract at quoted prices, profiting primarily from the difference between
Reading Academic Finance Research as a Practitioner: Extracting Actionable Insight from Published Studies
Academic finance papers present empirical findings with scientific rigor but often under assumptions distant from real trading conditions. This paper outlines a systematic approach to evaluating academic research
Risk of Ruin: The Arithmetic Every Sized Position Obeys
Risk of ruin is the mathematical probability that a trader will deplete an account to zero or below through a series of successive losses, given a fixed position
Choosing a Trading Style: A Decision Framework
**Abstract** Trading style is not a preference to be optimized for profit, but a profile determined by objective constraints: available capital, time commitment, leverage rules, risk tolerance, and
Paper Trading: What It Can Prove and What It Cannot
Paper trading is a simulation-based approach to testing trading strategies using virtual capital and hypothetical order execution. While it effectively validates signal generation and mechanical rule compliance, it
Expectancy: Connecting Win Rate, Payoff, and Costs
**Abstract** Expectancy is a single mathematical formula that quantifies the average profit or loss per trade when accounting for win rate, average payoff per win, average payoff per
Choosing a Trading Style: A Decision Framework for Beginners
Trading styles differ fundamentally in time horizon, position frequency, and capital requirements, making no single style universally optimal. This paper presents a decision framework that maps personal constraints
Glossary of Definitions
Definitions of 575 trading terms, each linked to the research papers that use them, with diagrams.
How Revenge Trading and Tilt Destroy Funded Accounts
Revenge trading and tilt destroy funded accounts faster than bad strategy. Recognize the psychology, kill the cascade.
Bracket Orders and OCO: The Foundation of Automated Trade Management
Master bracket and OCO orders: automate exits, set profit targets and stops simultaneously, and trade discipline at scale.
Market Orders vs. Limit Orders: Why Your Order Type Matters More Than You Think
Master market vs. limit orders. Understand slippage costs, execution certainty, and when each order type saves money in futures trading.
Evaluation vs. Funded Accounts: What Actually Changes When You Pass
Evaluation vs. Funded Accounts: What Actually Changes When You Pass a Prop Firm Challenge
How Position Size Controls Risk of Ruin: The Math Behind Account Survival
How Position Size Controls Risk of Ruin: The Math Behind Account Survival
The Cost of Emotion: Quantifying Your Trading Psychology With Data
Turn trading emotions into measurable data. Quantify the cost of revenge trading, tilt, and FOMO—then fix what you can prove.
Why Win Rate Alone Is Costing You Your Prop Account
Why a 45% win rate is more profitable than 70%—the expectancy math that separates funded traders from broke ones.
Consecutive Losses: Your Strategy Isn't Broken, Your Position Size (and Psychology) Is
Losing streaks are statistically inevitable. Why most prop traders mistake normal variance for system failure and how sized rules prevent it.
Drawdown Recovery: Why the Math Breaks When Emotion Takes Over
Math + psychology of trading drawdowns: recovery timelines, the asymmetry trap, behavioral spirals, and pre-emptive sizing discipline.
Margin vs. Minimum Deposit: Why Your Account Needs More Than You Think
Margin vs. Minimum Deposit: Why Your Account Needs More Than You Think
Slippage: The Hidden Cost Nobody Budgets For
Why slippage costs more than commissions—and how to measure yours on Tradovate
Why Position Size Matters More Than Your Edge
Position sizing controls survival more than edge. Learn why doubling risk per trade can increase account destruction 10x, not 2x.
How Much Capital Do You Actually Need to Trade Futures?
How much capital do you actually need to trade futures? Intraday vs overnight margin, real numbers for micro & standard contracts.
Tick Size and Tick Value: The Foundation of Position Sizing
Tick size and tick value determine your P&L per move. Master this to size positions correctly and avoid drawdowns.
The Kelly Criterion vs. Fixed Risk: Which Sizing Method Works for Prop Traders
Kelly Criterion or fixed risk sizing? Learn the math, the pitfalls, and which method fits funded futures trading.